- 150th Birth Anniversary of Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala falls on 17th September 2014 and His Excellency the President has already declared that day as the 'Dharmapala Day' and the year commencing from 17th September 2014 as the 'Dharmapala Year'. The proposal made by Hon. D.M. Jayaratne, Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, to conduct a series of programmes through out the year commencing from 17th September 2014 in association with the relevant Ministries, Departments and other Government Institutions to commemorate this event, was approved by the Cabinet.